Prietos

Prietos

ASIN: B00005CEMV

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The talented Cuban-born, San Francisco Bay-area-based pianist/composer Omar Sosa is an aural alchemist of the first order. On this CD--his seventh as a leader--Sosa creates an intricate and dynamic pan-African musical palette. His Thelonious Monk/Bill Evans piano stylings ingeniously merge with his brilliantly arranged array of African, African American, and Afro-Latin instruments, languages, and music genres. Save for the CD's three evocative ballads, "Twice As Sad," "Fragile," and "Misa," Sosa's compositions are folkloric in their percussive underpinnings and futuristic in their jazzy horn lines and hybrid combinations of Old and New World instrumentations and voicings. The sacred Santeria syncopations of "Desde Allah" and the title track are powered by the powerful bata, djembe, and tambor redondo drums; funky urban numbers, such as "Takes a Second" and "Why So Complicated," swing with a hip North American black urbanity. Sosa combines the far-flung black music of the Afro-Islamic Gnawa's of Morocco with Yoruba/Candomble chants from Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela and hip-hop/rap poetry from America. In Omar Sosa's mercurial music, past and present form a formidable future. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Tracks:

Eleggua
Takes a Second
Mother Africa
Nino Divino
Cha-Amarillo
Sleeping Lion
Blanco En Africa
Twice As Sad
Why So Complicated?
Fragile
Desde Alla
Prietos
Misa

Amazon.com

The talented Cuban-born, San Francisco Bay-area-based pianist/composer Omar Sosa is an aural alchemist of the first order. On this CD--his seventh as a leader--Sosa creates an intricate and dynamic pan-African musical palette. His Thelonious Monk/Bill Evans piano stylings ingeniously merge with his brilliantly arranged array of African, African American, and Afro-Latin instruments, languages, and music genres. Save for the CD's three evocative ballads, "Twice As Sad," "Fragile," and "Misa," Sosa's compositions are folkloric in their percussive underpinnings and futuristic in their jazzy horn lines and hybrid combinations of Old and New World instrumentations and voicings. The sacred Santeria syncopations of "Desde Allah" and the title track are powered by the powerful bata, djembe, and tambor redondo drums; funky urban numbers, such as "Takes a Second" and "Why So Complicated," swing with a hip North American black urbanity. Sosa combines the far-flung black music of the Afro-Islamic Gnawa's of Morocco with Yoruba/Candomble chants from Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela and hip-hop/rap poetry from America. In Omar Sosa's mercurial music, past and present form a formidable future. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

I'm coming to prefer Sosa's minimalism . . ........2005-01-01

. . . gloriously set forth on Pictures of Soul, Ayaguna, A New Life, and his brilliant new solo disc Aleatoric (not available, sadly, through Amazon.com at this writing), but this disc from 2000 is important because it represents the Cuban world jazz pianist coming into his full powers as composer, player, arranger, and bandleader, reaching their apex--at lest in terms of his large-palette works--in 2002's Sentir.

He's pretty much got things going at full roar here, and although I do prefer him in more pared down settings, there's a kind of ritual majesty and chthonic power to his synthesis of African urban diaspora mapped onto various world musics filtered through a genuine jazz ezzthetic. In fact, the more I listen to this glorious music, I have to say that it has so much raw power and primal beauty, with its swirling, mesmeric vocals, driving pianisms, nervous electric bass, gumbo percussion, and blaring winds, that it almost trumps his more recent excursions into world-jazz minimalism.

Almost, but not quite.

Really, though, it's pretty much a matter of personal taste as to which is better. In truth it's all good.

Another gem from certainly the most important world-jazz figure of his generation.

Aguinaldos of Puerto Rico: Velorio De Reyes

Average customer rating:

back to my roots
THE MUSIC SHARES THE ESSANCE OF OUR CULTURE
Excellent:

Aguinaldos of Puerto Rico: Velorio De Reyes
Angelos Prietos
Manufacturer: Playasound
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Puerto Rico | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

Mexico | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005G2N
Release Date: 1996-04-09

Tracks:

Aguinaldo A Los Reyes
El Beso
Le Canto A Los Reyes
No Tienes Que Ser Ponceno
Tristes Senderos
Despues De Rezar
La Paloma
Yo Me Voy
Aguas Que No Has De Beber
Ya Vienen Bajando Por La Serrania
Hay Mucho Calumbran Muy Lindos Hogar
Yo Quiero Carino En Vida Para Sentir Su Calor

Customer Reviews:

back to my roots.......2002-08-06

This album brought tears to eyes and a warmth to my soul. I was born and my early childhood was spent in the mountains of Corozal. This is the music of my ancestors and brings us back to a culture and lifestyle of the longer is.

THE MUSIC SHARES THE ESSANCE OF OUR CULTURE.......2000-08-09

In listening to this CD brings out the Puertorican in me, our music so lively and sentimental and so full of culture. To me is the most beloved in the world. As a musician and a music major, listening to this CD denotes and gives the feeling of being in the island partying during the holidays. I can use this music and sample it to create a whole new vibe adjusting its rithyms and lyrics to compose a new sound that me and my fellow musical companions can create Funky rican sounds that can be delightfull and enjoyable for all to hear. This music shares the essance of our culture, Long live our people our culture and our values.

Excellent:.......2000-06-26

I closed my eyes listening to this fantastic CD, I went back in time a January 5, in casa de mi tia (in my aunt house) for her traditional velorio de reyes. The quality of the recording is excellent. Since I worked for 10 years in the same home town where this CD was recorded Moca Puerto Rico, I saw some familiar faces on the cover of the CD. Thanks AMAZON, for bringin us those hard to find music...

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